Family Ties
by HappyHardcore
Summary: Charlotte's mother passes away and learns that her biological father is ... duh duh duh! Vince McMahon...


My mother had just died about a week ago; she had finally found peace after a long battle with cancer. I knew that she was terminally ill, and had dealt with the inevitable a long time ago. It was good to see her find the peace that she deserved. There was a small funeral for her, very few people showed up as my mom kept to herself and lived through me. I was a wrestler on the independent scene and was always traveling here and there. I would write and call me my mom as often as possible about my escapades around the world.  
  
Today was the reading of the will and I was sitting nervously in the lawyer's office. He said that we were waiting for the other party to show up. Though the lawyer seemed reluctant that this person would show.  
  
"Maybe we should get started, I will forward everything to the his lawyers." Mr. Hillgaard smiled. He was just about to begin when his secretary's voice came over the telecom.  
  
"Mr. McMahon is here to see you." Her voice sounded really nasally, kind of like how they sound in the movies. I smiled inside knowing that my mom would see the humour in it to. Mr. Hillgaard had told her to send him in. You can imagine my surprise as the Icon in wrestling walked in. The man with the grapefruits, the genetic jackhammer, Vince McMahon. He looked pretty surprised to be here himself.  
  
"Mr. McMahon, this is Charlotte Neufeld, Marlene's daughter." Mr. Hillgaard smiled. We made the polite introductions. "Mr. McMahon there is nothing here in the will for you except this envelope. There is one for you as well Charlotte." As expected all of her worldly possessions were left to me. Mr. McMahon and I opened the letters.  
  
Dearest Charlie,  
  
I know that you must be wondering why Vincent K. McMahon is sitting in the same room as you. But there is a very good explanation for all of this. I feel awful that I never had the courage to tell you the truth, but at least you will know all at the end of this letter.  
  
First of all you were the greatest gift that God has ever given me. You brought a lot of joy into my heart and God bless you for your love and your strength you have given me. You were my living doll.  
  
Whenever I talked about your father I always said that his heart was always in the right place, but he did make mistakes. One of the mistakes was what happened between us. I used to be the personal assistant to Vince many years ago.  
  
At the time he was having marital problems and was spending a lot of time at the office so he wouldn't have to go home. One night we were both working late and having a few cocktails and well, the result of that night was you. I never told him that I was pregnant, so you can't blame him for not being interested in your life. He would have done something that could have ruined his marriage to the only woman that he loved. I mean that him and Linda are soul mates, I was a distraction, and I know that. There was never any love between us. Please don' t think of me as the other woman. Linda knows about it and we were on friendly terms till the end of my employment.  
  
Charlie, I want you to get to know your father. He is a wonderful man. I love you always and I will never leave you.  
  
Love Eternally,  
  
Mom

I assumed that the letter that Mr. McMahon had received was about me. As he finished reading he looked at me. He smiled warmly; it made me relax, as this was an incredibly tense situation.  
  
"You have your mothers blue eyes and her wild black curls. Though you have the McMahon gleam in your eye." He sighed. "Your mother was a wonderful person, and it is a great loss to this world that she has passed on. She has asked me to get to know you in her letter, though if you want to let it go I would understand."  
  
"If that is my mother's wishes, so be it." I smiled weakly. "Though this is quite a shock to the system."  
  
"I know the feeling. How about coming to Stamford and staying a couple of weeks at the house."  
  
"You are a terribly busy man, and I know that there is no way you will be able to guarantee more than five minutes of your time. Between all the production meetings and what not."  
  
"Then come on the road." He smiled. "Although I cannot guarantee how my children are going to react tI had a great series of shows in Memphis and Vince called me almost every day. On the last show I was contracted for he was there in disguise in the audience. I had no idea and managed to pull off one of my all time greatest matches. After the show he appeared backstage with a dozen white roses.  
  
"You are fantastic." He smiled behind his sunglasses. I had to laugh.  
  
"You look ridiculous in that Hawaiian shirt." I teased. "And that goatee." I was holding back fits of laughter.  
  
"I  know I look pretty funny in this get up but, I wanted to see you perform. We have a show here tomorrow night and I thought that maybe it was time that you met the rest of your newfound family. Shane and Stephanie are really excited about meeting you. Linda is already preparing a room for you back in Stamford so you can come visit whenever you like."  
  
"Wow." I smiled.  
  
"Did you want to meet Shane and Stephanie tonight? I was going to meet them for a late dinner in the hotel restaurant and I would be honored if you were to join us." I agreed to join them for dinner as I was going to have to meet them anyways. Better sooner than later. I hit the showers and freshened up a bit. Vince was waiting in his limo. I didn't have a car since the motel I was staying at was across the street. Shane and Stephanie were waiting at a table. Vince squeezed my hand assumingly. They both got up and hugged their father. Stephanie then surprised me and threw her arms around me.  
  
"It is so awesome to find out that I have a sister." She smiled warmly.  
  
"Welcome to the family." Shane smiled. We chatted like we were always one big happy family. I realized that a lot of my personal traits were McMahon traits. The only resemblance to my mother was my appearance. We laughed a lot and I had a wonderful time. Immediately I could tell that Stephanie and I were going to be great friends, even though I was a couple of years older. Stephanie offered to drive me back to the hotel, as she wanted some girl time. Vince agreed and kissed our cheeks goodnight. Shane bid his goodnights as well. Stephanie and I headed out to the car park where we bumped into Triple H and Chris Jericho. They were yapping and headed to the rent a car that Triple HHH and Stephanie shared.  
  
"Going somewhere?" She laughed jingling the keys. Triple H checked his pockets and realized that the keys in his pocket were for the car back home. Stephanie laughed at him. "Paul, Chris I would like you to meet my half sister, Charlotte. Charlotte, this is my fiance Paul and our good friend Chris." We said our nice to meet you's and the guys decided that they were coming for a ride. "So much for girl talk." Stephanie whispered. We laughed. There was playful bantering the whole ride to the econolodge where I was staying.  
  
"I remember wrestling in that hall." Chris sighed. "And staying at the flop house across the street! oh sorry Charlotte."  
  
"It's okay, I mean it isn't the Ritz but it is a bed and a roof over my head." I smiled. "I am doing a lot better than when I first started, I was one of those die hard people who would live in their cars to get the gigs. Now they track me down for the shows and am higher on the pay scale."  
  
"From what my dad says you should be in the WWF before too long."  
  
"I will only accept if it is on my ability, not because of my relation to the owner." I replied.  
  
"Charlotte, a lot of people are going to think that no matter what." Chris smiled. "They are going to think that you are greener than what you are and are going to be hard to get along with."  
"I understand that. I want to know that I did it because I am good not because I discovered my dad is Vince McMahon."  
  
"Charlotte, why don't you check out of this flop house and stay in the hotel we is at." Stephanie suggested.  
  
"I guess I could." I smiled. "As long as they have a room available I suppose."  
  
"Paul can stay in Chris's room and you can share my room and we will girl talk until we pass out." We decided that was the way to go. I checked out and we were off to the hotel so Paul and Chris could drop us off and they could go do whatever they were off to doing in the first place. Stephanie and I talked until four in the morning. We were very similar in a lot of ways though very different.  
  
"You know I was terrified of meeting you, thinking that you were just going to use your new position to get the money, then I saw you walk in with my dad and I was like wow. You seemed to be so content with whom you are and that you could care less about our father's position. I am so glad that we know about you." She smiled as she drifted off to sleep.  
  
"I am glad to know that I still have a family."  I replied and drifted off to sleep. My cell started to ring at 7:30am. I got up groggily.  
  
"Hello?"  I answered.  
  
"Charlotte, it's John Hillgaard. I have some bad news for you. Apparently your mother had a sister and is contesting the will."  
  
"My mom told me she was an only child."  I replied.  
  
"You will have to come back here on the 26th that is the court date that has been set. In the mean time I am going to do some research on this person and see what I can come up with."  
  
"Thanks for calling me." I replied as I powered off my phone. I sighed, Stephanie was looking right at me with a confused look on her face.  
  
"What's the matter?"  She asked.  
  
"I have family coming out of the woodwork."  I laughed nervously and filled her in on the details. Since sleep was a lost cause we decided to get dressed and go and grab some breakfast. Chris and Paul were at the elevator when we left the room. Paul greeted Stephanie with a hug and kiss. Since Chris didn't want me to feel left out he gave me a huge hug and a sloppy kiss on the cheek. I laughed at him. I knew that he was happily married but he was just a sweetie. We ate together. A lot of the other wrestlers were wondering who the hell I was and why I was having breakfast with the company I was keeping. Vince McMahon came down and announced they were having a staff meeting in one of the banquet halls as soon as we were all done breakfast. I was included in the meeting.  
  
In the banquet hall Vince had me sit right up at the front with his other children.  
  
"Before I get to the boring stuff I have an announcement to make before you hear anything else from an outside source. Many of you know that I had to go to Fargo, North Dakota on business a couple of weeks ago. All you need to know is that I discovered I have another daughter who you all see sitting up front with Shane and Stephanie. Charlotte would you please stand up so they can see you." I did as I was told and did a small wave to the crowd. Vince continued to tell them that when they saw me working at the WWF it would because of my ability in the ring not because he is my father. He then went on to discuss changes in the story lines that they had come up with the previous evening. Charlotte listened intently as they all were assigned their parts to play that evening."And Charlotte I would like to use you as a plant in an open challenge match against Jazz for the women's title. That way we can see how you are in front of our crowds, the indy scene is nothing compared to what we draw."  
  
"Uhm, I wrestled in the Tokyo Dome last year in a main event match." I replied softly.  
  
"There are not main event women's matches in the Tokyo Dome."  Hardcore Holly stated.  
  
"I was doing this whole Luchador gimmick then and I ended up in an exploding ring match and winning their coveted title."  
  
  
"Your name wan't Spike was it?" Shane Helms asked.  
  
"Yes it was." I smiled. I knew that Shane was on that tour with me but I even kept the fact that I was a female a secret from all the other wrestlers. Once the promoters found out I was a female they stripped me of the title since I deceived them."  
  
"Well then I will assume that you won't have any problems tonight." Vince smiled.  
  
"Thank god she WAS a girl." Shane mumbled to Chris Jericho who cracked up.  
  
"Chris and Shane is there something that you would like to share with the rest of us?"  
  
"NO!" Shane said quickly.  
  
"Shane, this is way too funny to keep quiet. We were both on the same tour when Spike won the title. We were all weirded out by Spike having; I guess I can say, her very own dressing room. We all thought that Spike was a guy but Shane was acting strange. He thought he was turning gay because he was attracted to Spike and well at least we know that he wasn't. Great babe-dar man." Everyone was laughing.  
  
"So that is why you turned into a major flirt on that tour, trying to prove your straightness."  I added. Even Vince was laughing.  
  
"OK back to business." Vince smiled. He concluded the meeting. A few of the female divas were giving me the eye as they saw Vince giving me a free shot. But anyone who had heard of Spike knew I have worked hard to get where I was today.  
  
"Charlotte." Shane called after me. "I was wondering if you would like to come work out with Jeff, Matt, Amy, and myself." He smiled.  
  
"I think that I could use a good workout. Let me make sure that none of my family wants to spend time with me." I told Stephanie about my invitation.  
  
"Go," She grinned. "We have a lot of storylines to go over anyways. Go and have fun." She pushed me towards Shane.  
  
"I guess I am free to go, I just have to go and get my gear and then I am ready."  I headed up to the room that I was sharing with Stephanie. I grabbed my workout bag and retreated to the lobby where they were waiting for me. Jeff Hardy was amazed that I was the Spike. The one that Shane could not shut up about. They all told me these great stories about growing up together and then being one of the hottest tag teams around. Shane and I got along great. There was definitely something there but I was not ready to act on it. After the grueling work out I made them go through some basic yoga positions to aid in the cooling down process. They seemed to like it. We were all starving as it was way passed lunchtime.  
  
"Well if we are going to eat anything it may as well be now."  Matt stated. We all decided on Perkins, as it was closest to the hotel. They were recognized immediately, and we had a good laugh. They were wonderful with all of the fans. Somehow we did manage to eat and have a great time. We then headed back to the hotel where we cleaned up and got ready to go to the arena. Vince told me he wanted me to look like a fan, not a plant. As all the other girls were always picked out before the match even took place. I scored some poster board, I wore the lime green Hurricane shirt, cargo pants, I had my hair pulled back into a ponytail and lastly I wore my sandals. I totally looked unprepared to get into the ring. I also wrote on the poster board. "Pick Me Val Venis" with big red lips at the bottom. I looked like a mark.  
  
I was placed in the first row. I was given a ticket; I went through the doors and everything just like the rest of the fans. I yelled and screamed at the top of my lungs and had a helluva time. Then Jazz came out and did her challenge to the crowd. She naturally picked me. I got in there and held my own. I knew that I had to lose but we sure put on a show. Jazz even let me try to get my signature move on, that was where I "missed" she nailed me with a DDT and I jobbed for the three count. I was now "injured" since I wasn't a "professional wrestler" Vince thought we did an amazing job out there and he saw a great Jazz feud in my future. Most people agreed except for Stacey Keibler.  
  
"Vince I thought you said you wanted to make me the women's champion." She pouted.  
  
"Stacey, Charlotte is a trained wrestler, you are still learning. I said that if you keep up the good work you will be getting a title shot soon. You still have a ways to go to get to the caliber that we want. Trish did it, and a few other women before her learned how to wrestle without any prior experience." I hopped off of the stretcher.  
  
"Look, I don't want everyone to think that anything that happens here is happening because I am your daughter. I worked hard to get to where I am today, and if I didn't prove it out there tonight then obviously things are not going to work out here for me."  
  
"We all know that you are only here to get to know your daddy so you can get to the top of the business so your little speech you made was utter bullshit." Stacey spat.  
  
"I am ten times the wrestler you are."  
"Stacey, she used to wrestle in exploding ring matches, she won the New Japan Championship title, and your crowning achievement was a gravy bowl match." Shane retorted. Almost everyone was fighting back laughter. "If you want to get into a ring with her, I would suggest that you do so with a lot of medical insurance." Stacey stormed off.  
  
"Don't worry Charlotte, most of us have heard about what you did in Japan." Mark Calloway drawled. "We know that you are not here to ride on your daddy's coat tails. To be honest with you that was one of the better women's title matches I have seen." He patted my back and went on his way.  
  
"Just so you know Charlotte, once you have his approval, you are set here." Stephanie smiled. "Don't let what Stacey thinks get you down." I went and had a shower and changed into my jeans and a tank top. Shane was waiting outside in his street clothes.  
  
"Uhm, Charlotte" He said nervously.  
  
"Please call me Charlie."  I interrupted.  
  
"Charlie, I was wondering if you would like to go grab a bite to eat, just the two of us."  
  
I frowned. "Shane, please don't take this the wrong way, I am attracted to you but I have a lot on my plate right now and there isn't any room for a relationship at this point. There are a lot of things that I need to sort out right now." I smiled. He looked so disappointed.  
  
"I am sorry to have bothered you."  He sighed as he walked away.  
  
"If I tell you the whole story, you would be a little more understanding. I will have dinner with you just so you know it is as friends." He smiled.  
  
"Great, then lets go."  I saw Stephanie and told her that I was going out with Shane.  
  
"I am kicking Paul out again just so I can get all the details."  She grinned. Over dinner I told Shane how I found out who my father was and about this aunt appearing out of nowhere and how at this point I don't have the time let alone the energy to start a relationship.  
  
"I really do like you Shane, from the first time I saw you in Japan. The timing really sucks, that's all." I squeezed his hand.  
  
"I will wait for you to be ready."  He smiled. I talked his ear off about my mother and he listened intently. We got along great and when we got back to the hotel he kissed my cheek. "Goodnight Charlie."  He whispered in my ear. I walked into the hotel room. Stephanie and Paul were watching a movie. I had a dopey smile on my face and my hand was touching the spot where Shane left his kiss. I could still feel it lingering. Stephanie and Paul lost interest in the movie and were now watching me.  
  
"Ooh what happened."  Stephanie beamed.  
  
"We are just friends." I said dreamily  
  
"Just friends don't ride in on the clouds."  Paul joked.  
  
"We are going to take things slowly after everything that is going on I really don't want a relationship right now."  I smiled as I flopped down on the bed. "You know I really should not be intruding on you guys, I should get a room of my own."  
  
"You are not intruding." Stephanie smiled.  
  
"Don't think that, besides I would like to get to know my future sister in law."  My cell phone started to ring.  
  
"Hello?". I answered.  
  
"Hello Charlie, I found out about that lady who is claiming to be your aunt. Her name is Glenda Powell and it turns out that she in fact was your mother's sister. She had heard about the funeral through the newspaper and decided that she deserved a stake in your mother's wealth. She is a nasty woman, and I believe that she wants to contact you for some unknown reason. Be warned if you hear a cackle of a witch and the whoosh of a broom out side your window."  I laughed.  
  
"Thanks for the heads up." I replied. We said our good byes and I put away my phone. I filled in Stephanie on the latest of the contesting of the will. Just then my phone rang again.  
  
"Hello?"  
"Is this Charlotte?"  A voice demanded.  
  
"Yes this is."  
  
"Ahh, the bastard daughter of the whore of a sister I had."  She paused. "I have a right to half of her estate and I do intend on getting it, I have the finest lawyers in the land and I may even get the whole thing. You are nothing but a mistake from a night of whoring. Your kind is the kind that gets sent straight to hell, at least we will know that your mother will be there whoring herself to the devil."  She hung up the phone. Stephanie saw the distress in my eyes. I filled them in on that conversation. Stephanie got her dad to call his lawyers to help out with this mess.  
  
"I think that I will leave you two alone for girl talk."  Paul kissed Stephanie and then hugged me.  
  
"By the way I prefer being called Charlie."  I smiled at them. Vince was at the door when Paul opened it. Vince told me a little bit about this aunt that appeared mysteriously out of thin air. He had known her before she even met my mom. She was at a bar one night and she kept trying to get him to go home with her. She eventually gave up and ended up going home with another well-dressed man. A few weeks late she was suing him for sexual assault. Not a nice lady. So his lawyers were going to take care of everything and that I should not worry. I thanked him with a big hug.


End file.
